Summer Exhibitions // Tracey Emin's Retrospective // 'Love Is What You Want'

I was doubtful doubtful about Tracey Emin's art before this exhibition. Her reputation and celebrity often overshadows her work and what it's about.

I was surprised to find that I actually like a lot of it and was able to respond to it strongly. She is famous for saying that her art is her life and you got that idea very clearly in the exhibition. 

Although her work is extremely personal to her, her pieces deal with themes and experiences that anybody would find easy to identify with; love, loss, grief, sexuality, identity, anger, bitterness, insecurity, alienation and more. The exhibition is a documentation of her life, and consequently perhaps almost a representation of the internal life of many others.

The wall hangings and neon lights were the most poignant for me. They consist of incredibly private thoughts conflicting with each other,  ranging from angry and bitter to sentimental. They bluntly hit a nerve about the insecurities, fears and emotions tied with relationships and letting yourself become vulnerable to someone. They’re the thoughts I think that a lot people have at some point and  it was very strange seeing them being shouted out on a gallery wall.

I didn't like all of the work though. She exploits the voyeuristic nature of our society and sometimes that becomes too crude. I felt uncomfortable reading her diary entries and thought that pushed the line too far about whether a person's life can be defined as art.